Dear Customer,

As a global organisation, we, like many others, recognize the significant threat posed by the coronavirus.

During this time, we have made some of our learning resources freely accessible. Learn more about these useful resources on our COVID-19 page.

Our distribution centres are open and orders can be placed online. Do be advised that shipments may be delayed due to extra safety precautions implemented at our centres and delays with local shipping carriers.

A Nation in Pain

Healing Our Biggest Health Problem

Judy Foreman

Based on interviews with hundreds of scientists and many hundreds of research studies.

Written in an informal, conversational tone and accessible to anyone interested in pain.

Includes a thoughtful analysis of the politics of opioid and marijuana regulation.

Explores the many possible reasons for women's extra pain burden, including the complex role of estrogen, and the reasons why women receive inferior pain treatment.

A Nation in Pain

Healing Our Biggest Health Problem

Judy Foreman

Description

Out of 238 million American adults, 100 million live with chronic pain. And yet the press has paid more attention to the abuses of pain medications than the astoundingly widespread condition they are intended to treat. Ethically, the failure to manage pain better is tantamount to torture. When chronic pain is inadequately treated, it undermines the body and mind. Indeed, the risk of suicide for people in chronic pain is twice that of other people. Far more than just a symptom, author Judy Foreman writes, chronic pain can be a disease in its own right—and it's the biggest health problem facing America today.

Published in partnership with the International Association for the Study of Pain, A Nation in Pain offers a sweeping, deeply researched account of the chronic-pain crisis, from neurobiology to public policy, and presents practical solutions that are within our grasp today. Drawing on both her personal experience with chronic pain and her background as an award-winning health journalist, she guides us through recent scientific discoveries, including genetic susceptibility to pain; gender disparities in pain conditions and treatments, perhaps linked to estrogen; the problem of undertreated pain in children; the emerging role of the immune system in pain; advances in traditional treatments such as surgery and drugs; and fair-minded assessments of the effectiveness of alternative remedies, including marijuana, acupuncture, massage, and chiropractic care. For many people, the real magic bullet, Foreman writes, is exercise. Though many patients fear it will increase their discomfort, studies show it consistently produces improvement, often dramatic. She also explores the destructive "opioid wars," which have led to a misguided demonization of prescription painkillers.

Foreman presents a far-reaching but sensible plan of action, ranging from enhancing pain education in medical schools to reforms of federal policies across the board. For doctors, scientists, policy makers, and especially patients, A Nation in Pain is essential reading.

A Nation in Pain

Healing Our Biggest Health Problem

Judy Foreman

Table of Contents

1. The Enormity of the Problem 2. What Is Pain, Anyway? 3. The Genetics of Pain 4. Gender and Pain 5. Children in Pain 6. The Mind-Body in Pain 7. Opioid Wars: Part I 8. Opioid Wars: Part II, Proposed Solutions 9. How the Immune System Cranks Up Pain 10. Marijuana: The Weed America Loves to Hate 11. Beyond Opioids: Western Medicine 12. Beyond Opioids: Complementary and Alternative Medicine 13. Exercise: The Real Magic Bullet 14. The Way Forward

A Nation in Pain

Healing Our Biggest Health Problem

Judy Foreman

Author Information

Judy Foreman

Judy Foreman is a nationally syndicated health columnist who has won more than 50 journalism awards and whose columns have appeared regularly in the Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, the Dallas Morning News, and other national and international outlets. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Wellesley College, served in the Peace Corps in Brazil for three years, and received a master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. From 2000 to 2001, she was a Fellow in Medical Ethics at Harvard Medical School. From 2001 to 2004, she was a Lecturer on Medicine at Harvard Medical School. She has also been the host of a weekly call-in radio show on Healthtalk.com. In 2014 she was the recipient of the American Pain Society's Kathleen M. Foley Journalist Award.

A Nation in Pain

Healing Our Biggest Health Problem

Judy Foreman

Reviews and Awards

"The shadow pain casts and the toll it takes on individuals and society are revealed in this remarkable book by nationally syndicated health columnist Foreman, who chronicles the genetics of pain, types of pain receptors, and the effect of hormones and gender on pain and pain relief... this work is thoughtful and thought-provoking reading for the medical community, policymakers, and patients, especially in light of the F.D.A's recent call for tightening regulations in the administering of pain medications." - Publishers Weekly starred review

"Encyclopedic in scope... Foreman's text underscores the fact that pain really is an extraordinarily complex phenomenon that requires more research. If we continue head-in-the-sand policies, we will remain a nation in pain." - Kirkus Reviews

"Finally, a scientific and empathetic book that sensibly sorts out the problems and possibilities of adequately controlling pain. What a relief!" - Booklist

"This is a book that has been waiting to be written. Tens of millions of Americans suffer from chronic, unrelenting pain, yet until now they've had nowhere to turn to understand how pain arises or what to do about it. Whatever the source of pain" - and there can be many

"The great majority of books written on pain in the past decade provide simplistic recipes based on untested remedies. Judy Foreman's new book, A Nation in Pain, attacks the complexity of chronic pain, and thoughtfully provides a realistic approach to optimal pain management. Her research on this topic, including interviews with pain patients and pain scientists, provides a wealth of personal and professional expertise and experience. This book will be a valuable asset to patients, physicians and professional organizations wanting an encyclopedic and unbiased treatise on the very difficult topic of chronic pain." - Don L Goldenberg, M.D., Chief of Rheumatology, Newton-Wellesley Hospital; Professor of Medicine, Tufts University

"The experience of chronic pain forges new alliances and A Nation in Pain provides insights, knowledge, critiques, questions and comfort for readers" - be they individuals impacted by pain, those who care for them and those who might benefit from this thoughtful and comprehensive treatise. I am one of those individuals.

"Judy Foreman has provided a masterful chronicle of the commonest of human miseries" - chronic pain. The author delves into neurobiological mechanisms and notes the failure of our educational system to prepare physicians to deliver adequate care, including the perils of ignoring benefits of non-traditional (non-Western) therapies. This is a book for everyone; scientists and sufferers, physicians and their educators.

"A Nation in Pain: Healing Our Biggest Health Problem is an extensive and eye opening look into the world of pain from the heart and soul of someone who understands what it is like to live with pain. Judy Foreman explores the anatomy of pain guiding us through treatments both conventional and unconventional and the debate that many of them ignite. I found it refreshing and honest while making a strong point that we need to do a better job at managing chronic pain." - Penney Cowan, Founder, American Chronic Pain Association

"Encyclopedic in scope... Foreman's text underscores the fact that pain really is an extraordinarily complex phenomenon that requires more research. If we continue head-in-the-sand policies, we will remain a nation in pain." - Kirkus Reviews

"Finally, a scientific and empathetic book that sensibly sorts out the problems and possibilities of adequately controlling pain. What a relief!" - Booklist

A Nation in Pain

Healing Our Biggest Health Problem

Judy Foreman

From Our Blog

Is undiagnosed and untreated chronic pain a nationwide epidemic? Does the American legal system's treatment of the pharmaceutical and medical fields impedes citizens' struggles to heal themselves? Has the media egregiously focused on the abuses of pain medication rather than extolling its virtues?